A variety of turbomachinery such as gas turbine engines utilizes projections such as mid span or tip shrouds or other damping means to reduce vibratory loading on blade airfoils. A principal function of blade shrouds in gas turbine engines is to provide dynamic restraint and damping, a role which subjects the blade-to-blade mating surfaces to significant wear. In order to control this wear, shrouded blades use special materials welded to their mating shroud faces. U.S. Pat. No. 4,257,741 assigned to the assignee of the present invention describes one method and apparatus for welding a tungsten carbide material to a surface which is subject to wear in a gas turbine engine. While the welding process is sufficient to attach a hard wear resistant material to a turbine blade, the process is one which requires extreme care in order to avoid overheating the turbine blade at the point of attachment resulting in weakening of the material or in generating cracks which may lead to subsequent failure. Thus, it is desirable to provide a method for attaching a hardened insert to a blade shroud in a manner which does not require the extreme care necessary to generate a hardened surface by welding.